Gladiators Weekly Update

The Gwinnett Gladiators earned two points as they went 1-2-0-0 last week. With 31 points on the season, the Gladiators remain in the top spot in the ECHL's South Division and first overall in the Eastern Conference. Gwinnett plays three games this week, twice against the Greenville Road Warriors and one against the Trenton Titans.

This week's Games:

Monday, 12/3: Practice at the Ice Forum @10:30 a.m.

Tuesday, 12/4: Practice at the Arena @10:30 a.m.

Wednesday, 12/5: Practice at the Arena @10:30 a.m.

Thursday, 12/6: Practice at the Arena @10:30 a.m.

Friday, 12/7: Game @Greenville - @7:00 p.m.

Greenville Preview: The last time the two teams met ended in a 2-1 loss for the Gladiators at the Arena at Gwinnett Center on November 17th. The Greenville Road Warriors are currently second in the South Division behind Gwinnett with 27 points. The Road Warriors last home game at the Bi-Lo Center ended in a 6-3 defeat against Reading on November 28th. The Road Warriors are led by Forward Brandon Wong, who has a team high 23 points, and goalie Nathan Lieuwen, who has appeared in a team-high 15 games.

Saturday, 12/8: Game vs. Greenville - @7:05 p.m.

Sunday, 12/9: Game vs. Trenton - @4:05 p.m.

Trenton Preview: This is the first meeting between the two teams this season. The Trenton Titans are ranked third in the Atlantic Division with a record of 8-10-0-1 for 17 points. The last game the Titans played in was the 6-2 loss to the Elmira Jackals on December 2nd. Trenton is 1-1-0-0 when facing a South Division team this season.

Last Week's Results:

Wednesday November 28: Fort Wayne 4, Gwinnett 3 - L

"ªThe Fort Wayne Komets defeated the Gladiators during the team's first ever meeting at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Tyler Butler scored the game-winning goal to help the Komets to the win. Rookie Doug Jones scored two goals, which included Gwinnett's final marker of the game. Fort Wayne netminder Ken Reiter stopped 44 of 47 shots for the win.

Friday November 30: Gwinnett 3, Fort Wayne 1 - W

The Gladaitors rebounded on Friday as they posted a 3-1 win over Fort Wayne. Defenseman Dallas Jackson scored the first goal of the game on the power play for his fifth goal this season. Daniel Maggio put the Komets on the board in the second period. Evan Bloodoff scored the game-winning goal shorthanded late in the second period. Gwinnett goaltender Louis Domingue earned an assist on the play and finished with two on the night. Corey Fienhage widened the margin with less than a minute to play in the third as he also collected his first two assists of the season along with his first goal in the contest.

Saturday December 1: South Carolina 2, Gwinnett 0 - L

The South Carolina Stingrays shut out Gwinnett 2-0 on Saturday night at the North Charleston Coliseum. Tyler Johnson scored the first goal for South Carolina to put them on top and Andrew Sackrison widened the margin to 2-0 before the end of the first period. Gwinnett's goaltender Mike Lee made 18 saves including a stop on a penalty shot from Hunter Bishop in the third.

News & Notes:

Drought Over: Rookie forward Evan Bloodoff scored his 7th goal of the season in the Gladiators 3-1 win over Fort Wayne on November 30th. The goal snapped a seven game goal-scoring drought for the Nelson, BC native. Bloodoff has skated in 18 games with the Gladiators this season after being assigned from the Portland Pirates on October 22nd. Bloodoff has earned 12 points (seven goals, five assists) while with Gwinnett.

Sin Bin: The Gladiators and Fort Wayne Komets set a Gladiators season high for most penalty minutes by an opponent in one game and the most penalty mintues by the Gladiators in one game this year. Gwinnett finished with 68 penalty mintues while the Komets amassed 86 penalty minutes. Over half of those minutes were accrued in the final sixty seconds of the game due to multiple fights.

Penalty Shots: Gwinnett was awarded a penalty shot Wednesday against the Fort Wayne Komets. Tyler Murovich was awarded the shot but was stopped by goalie Ken Reiter. The last time Gwinnett was awarded a penalty shot at home was 11/26/2011 with Bryan Brutlag scoring on South Carolina's Philipp Grubauer in a 5-4 overtime loss. On Saturday, South Carolina was awarded a penalty shot against goalie Mike Lee who stopped the chance, as he denied Hunter Bishop in the third. The last time Gwinnett faced a penalty shot on the road was 1/22/12 as Jeff Jakaitis stopped Marc-Olivier Vallerand in Greenville in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Road Warriors.

Close Call Games: Friday's 3-1 win against the Fort Wayne Komets snapped the 10 game streak of games decided by one goal for Gwinnett.. Of the ten games decided by one goal, Gwinnett posted a an 8-2-0-0 record.

Shut Out: The Gladiators were shut out 2-0 in their last outing by the South Carolina Stingrays as goaltender Ryan Zapolski finished with 34 saves. Prior to Saturday shutout loss, the last time Gwinnett was shut out on the road was 10/27/2012 against the Fort Wayne Komets as goaltender Charlie Effinger had 43 saves for a 1-0 win. The Gladaitors were not shutout at all last season.

Upcoming Events:

2012-13 Season Ticket Plans! Gladiators Full Season Ticket Plans as well as Gladiators mini season ticket package are on sale for the 2012-13 Season. Fans can reserve their seats for the upcoming season by logging onto the official team website www.gwinnettgladiators.com or by calling the Gladiators office at 770-497-5100 for all the details.

Sing for Santa: Join the Gladiators on Saturday, December 8th and Sunday, December 9th for a fan favorite holiday tradition - Sing for Santa! Comprised of over 15 school choruses each night, the students will be singing holiday songs and Christmas Carols during the first intermission to help everyone get into the holiday spirit.

The Gladiators are the ECHL Affiliate of the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League and are members of the ECHL, the Premier "AA" Hockey League and play all home games at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.